Obama, Michelle, and the late Palestinian-American professor, Edward Said. How can you engage grassroots activism and forget Edward Said?
AMY TEIBEL of the Associated Press filed this report a day ago, on July 14, 2008, informing of Obama’s intent to visit the Occupied Palestinian Territories, namely, the West Bank, during his Middle East trip.
PARIS – Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama will visit the West Bank next week as part of a swing through the Middle East, a Palestinian official said Monday, giving an important diplomatic boost to the Palestinians at a sensitive time in peace talks.
The Palestinians expressed satisfaction over the planned meeting with the presumed Democratic nominee, which comes months after Obama’s likely Republican opponent, John McCain, passed on meeting with the Palestinians during a brief visit to Israel. Obama is scheduled to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during his July 23 stop in Ramallah, said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, who was in Paris for a Mediterranean summit.
“We welcome this meeting,” Erekat said. If Obama is elected, he added, “we hope he will stay the course between Israel and the Palestinians in reaching peace and a two-state solution.” During the same visit, Obama is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and other Israeli officials. The Obama campaign declined to comment.
Declined to comment? Well, if you have to play Israel’s game, then you might as well deny that you have any intentions of engaging the representatives of a people living under Israeli domination for 41 years, and more: military occupation, lands that are continually being confiscated, the illegal presence of an occupying army, and daily killings of resisters.
Because the U.S. is the key broker in Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts, it is reported that officials on both sides are still trying to get a feel on whether Obama will change U.S. policy in the region. President Bush and Condi Rice just tried to broker a peace agreement, but failed miserably.
In Paris on Sunday, Olmert said the sides are closer than ever to achieving peace, but we have been hearing that for years. There is always some issue that Israel brings up, which prevents going forward.
Few details about Obama’s trip have been released. Obama’s campaign reported that he will travel to Iraq, Afghanistan, Jordan, Israel, Germany, France and Britain.
Photos that Obama might want to take with him on his trip:
Loretta and MLK, as exploited civil rights activists, will not rest in peace until there is a fair and just resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Screw AIPAC: here are the true representatives of Judaic thinking on Palestine.
The unheard majority in America supports a just peace for the Palestinians.
The occupation must stop; the ethnic cleansing must stop; the colonization of Palestinian land must stop; the killing must stop.